US equity futures rose higher this morning, alongside an overnight advance in Asian stocks, ahead of an American Employment reading and upcoming remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell.

Friday’s job report, scheduled for release at 8:30am EST, is forecast to show the US to have added 160,000 jobs last month vs. gains of 164,000 in July, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7%. 

Hours later, at 12:30pm EST, the report is likely to be addressed during Powell's "Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy" speech in Zurich; where the Fed Chairman is expected to take questions from both the audience and Swiss National Bank President, Thomas Jordan.

These upcoming developments come after Thursday’s session, where Wall Street’s S&P 500 index rose within 2% of all-time highs, amid optimism of thawing geopolitical tensions after the US and China announced that they would resume trade negotiations next month.

The S&P 500 rallied +1.29% for what marked its biggest one-day gain in three weeks, backed by strong performances in Technology (+2.09%), Financial (+2.04%) and Consumer Discretionary (+1.91%) shares. The benchmark is now 1.7% short of an all-time record high.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +1.83% and +1.42%, respectively. 

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: China Ratchets Up Stimulus, Cutting Reserve Ratio to Lowest Level Since 2007. (Bloomberg)
China’s central bank said it will cut the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves to the lowest level since 2007, injecting liquidity into an economy facing both a domestic slowdown and trade-war headwinds.

ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.

08:30AM - ★★★ - Nonfarm Payrolls (Aug) (Previous: 164,000)
08:30AM - ★★★ - Unemployment Rate (Aug) (Previous: 3.7%)
12:30PM - ★★★ - Fed Chair Powell Speaks

STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.

DocuSign (DOCU): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of 1 cent per share, short of the 4 cents a share consensus estimate. Revenue topped estimates, however, and the provider of electronic signature technology gave an upbeat current-quarter forecast.

Crowdstrike (CRWD): [EARNINGS] Reported a quarterly loss of 18 cents per share, 5 cents a share smaller than Wall Street had anticipated. The cybersecurity company’s revenue also exceeded analysts’ expectations and Crowdstrike raised its full-year outlook.

Lululemon (LULU): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly profit of 96 cents per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts. The apparel maker’s comparable-store sales jumped 15%. Lululemon also raised its full-year guidance. Results were boosted by strength in online sales and in the menswear category.

GrubHub (GRUB): [NEWS] Announced a new delivery partnership with McDonald’s (MCD), which will make the restaurant chain’s offerings available through the GrubHub and Seamless delivery services in New York City and in the Tri-State area.

Beyond Meat (BYND): [RATING] Rated “underperform” in new coverage at D.A. Davidson, with a price target of $130 per share. The firm said its view does not reflect a negative view of the company or its ability to execute, but rather the size of the total addressable market and the number of potential frequent purchasers.

Kellogg (K): [UPGRADE] Upgraded the cereal maker’s stock to “buy” from “neutral,” predicting accelerating organic sales and improved profit margins.

Alibaba (BABA): [NEWS] Alibaba is buying the Kaola e-commerce business from Chinese gaming company NetEase for $2 billion. Kaola specializes in luxury goods imports.

Bank of America (BAC): [DOWNGRADE] Keefe Bruyette & Woods downgraded the stock to “market perform” from “outperform,” reversing a recent upgrade. KBW points to the escalation of the trade war impacting economic growth, as well as prospects for further Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Zoom Video Communications (ZM): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly profit of 8 cents per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. The videoconferencing company’s revenue also topped forecasts and Zoom increased its full-year forecast.

Costco (COST): [EARNINGS] Reported an August comparable-store sales increase of 5.5%, topping the Refinitiv consensus estimate of a 4.9% increase.

MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: GIII, URBN, TGNA, BOX
DECLINERS: LVGO, ADPT, VRNT, BTU, SMAR, CHGG, NNN, TSN

TODAY'S IPOs
None.

WE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY!